Dr Harrison George Mwakyembe was born on 10 December 1955 in Kyela in the Southern Highlands Province in colonial Tanganyika. The Southern Highlands Province was divided into Mbeya Region and Iringa Region after Tanganyika won independence from Britain. Kyela is in Mbeya Region.

Harrison Mwakyembe is a younger brother of Daimon Mwakyembe, former director of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS). Daimon was a schoolmate of African studies scholar and author Godfrey Mwakikagile at Mpuguso Middle School in Rungwe District in the Southern Highlands Province in the early sixties. One of Mwakikagile's teachers at Mpuguso was Leonard Levitt, an American Peace Corp who became a prominent journalist and renowned author whose works include An African Season, the first book ever written by a member of the Peace Corps.

Other alumni of Mpuguso Middle School include Brigadier-General Owen Rhodfrey Mwambapa, Mwakikagile's first cousin and a graduate of Sandhurst and head of the Tanzania Military Academy, an army officers' training school; Oscar Mwamwaja, one of Tanzania's first commercial airline pilots and also Mwakikagile's cousin; and David Mwakyusa who became a member of parliament for Rungwe West and cabinet member as Minister of Health and Social Welfare under President Jakaya Kikwete. David Mwakyusa was also the last personal doctor of the first president of Tanzania and father of the nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and was with him when Nyerere died at a hospital in London, England, in October 1999.

Another elder brother of Harrison Mwakyembe, younger brother of Daimon Mwakyembe, who also attended Mpuguso Middle School in the early sixties was Morrison Mwakyembe who was a classmate of Oscar Mwamwaja. They were one year behind Mwakikagile.

Harrison Mwakyembe attended Tukuyu Primary School and Kituli Primary School. He also attended Tabora Boys Secondary School. He later enrolled as a student at the Tanzania School of Journalism in Dar es Salaam where he obtained a Diploma in Journalism before going to the University of Dar es Salaam where he studied law and earned a Bachelor of Laws (LLB). He did post-graduate work in law at the University of Turin, specialising in intellectual property, and earned a certificate before proceeding with his studies. He obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Hamburg and continued with his studies at the same school where he also earned a doctorate in law.

He later became a lecturer and then senior lecturer in law at the University of Dar es Salaam where he also served, at different times, as head of the department of international law and the department of constitutional and administrative law.

Harrison Mwakyembe was elected as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly representing Tanzania (2001–2005) and as a member of parliament in 2005 representing Kyela, a position he still holds.

He has also served in different capacities as a cabinet member under two presidents. He was Deputy Minister of Works (28 November 2010 – 7 February 2012), Minister of Transport (7 May 2012 – 24 January 2015) and Minister of East African Cooperation (24 January 2015 – 5 November 2015) under President Jakaya Kikwete; and Minister for Constitutional Affairs and Justice (12 December 2015 – 23 March 2017) and Minister for Information, Culture, Artists and Sports since 23 March 2017 under President John Magufuli. While in parliament, Mwakyembe was appointed a member of a parliamentary committee on Investment and Trade (2006–2010) and served as the committee's vice chairman. And from 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the Infrastructure Development Committee.

His vast legislative experience in the Tanzanian parliament and in the East African Legislative Assembly and as a lecturer in law has served him well in different capacities including ministerial posts under different presidents. He is one of the most experienced cabinet members in the country.

• Treni ya Mwakyembe, commuter rail in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.